Master Index of Archived Threads


At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

A Boy Named Seo Mar 04 2018 05:00 PM

Our lovable LOOGY offers his 10 favorite baseball movies and gives Field of Dreams a beatdown on his way to some questionable inclusions and omissions, both. Whatever you think of FoD, it's way better than a couple of his toilet bowl choices, including Little Big League. I have to say, I've never seen his #1, but it scores some good rotten tomatoes so I'm gonna look for it tonight. https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/03/02/field-dreams-bad-film It’s not the best baseball movie. It’s not even Kevin Costner’s best baseball movie. Bull Durham and For Love of The Game are significantly better baseball movies. Heck, it’s not even James Earl Jones’s best baseball movie! The Sandlot and The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings are infinitely better than Field of Dreams. Jerry Blevins, yall!

Edgy MD Mar 04 2018 10:31 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

For the Love of the Game is significantly bad. It's a bad film. It's a baseball-y film that doesn't know anything about baseball. Worse, it's a baseball-y film that doesn't know anything about baseball that thinks it knows about baseball. It's your cousin's aggressively obnoxious drunk husband at a wedding where the bar is free and he's going to milk that for all it's worth and talk some loud shit.

TheOldMole Mar 04 2018 10:56 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Nice argument.

Lefty Specialist Mar 04 2018 11:57 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

It's incredibly sappy. But- He beats the Yankees and shuts up their obnoxious fans. Lots of Vin Scully.

Edgy MD Mar 05 2018 12:24 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Steve Lyons is a tall price to pay, even for Vin Scully.

G-Fafif Mar 05 2018 12:56 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

There's an airport bartender at JFK in the movie who says she hates the MFYs. Would have taken one line of dialogue to make her a Mets fan. But they didn't bother. So for this, among many reasons, fuck For the Love of the Game. Some nice songs on the soundtrack, though.

HahnSolo Mar 05 2018 11:31 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Jerry’s list is totally invalidated by Bad News Bears only being #10.

Edgy MD Mar 05 2018 11:49 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

God, yes. And he's probably thinking of the Billy Bob Thornton one.

Vic Sage Mar 06 2018 04:59 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

[u:35t3upzj]Blevins' list:[/u:35t3upzj] 1. Everybody Wants Some 2. The Sandlot 3. Major League 4. For Love of the Game 5. A League of Their Own 6. Bull Durham 7. Little Big League 8. Rookie of the Year 9. The Rookie 10. Bad News Bears I haven't seen EVERYBODY WANTS SOME, but its a Linkater film, so maybe it's worth watching. But LOVE OF THE GAME? yeesh. that dog has fleas. and LITTLE BIG LEAGUE? ROOKIE OF THE YEAR? Man, he's got the taste of a 12 year old. No wonder he can't relate to FIELD OF DREAMS. [u:35t3upzj]My top 10:[/u:35t3upzj] Bull Durham Field of dreams The Natural Moneyball Bad news bears, the A League of Their Own Sandlot, the Major league Rookie, the Eight Men Out [u:35t3upzj]honorable mention:[/u:35t3upzj] Bang the drum slowly Damn Yankees Pride of the Yankees Bingo Long Fever Pitch [u:35t3upzj]Mets content:[/u:35t3upzj] Game 6 Frequency

Edgy MD Mar 06 2018 12:36 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Point of discussion: Game 6 and Frequency are both fine films. Are they baseball films? Neither have baseball-playing protagonists or conflict that plays out on a diamond, but baseball, while mostly appearing within the film on TV screens, stands as metaphor or plot driver in a way that's greater than, say, The Odd Couple, but less than Field of Dreams. Yet, without baseball, what are they? One is about the connection across time of fathers and sons and the other about being defined through your life and shaped in your character by the pain of victory denied. I wasn't going this way when I started the post, but I think baseball itself is a character in both films, and therefore they indeed do qualify as baseball films.

cooby Mar 06 2018 12:48 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Bang the Drum Slowly

41Forever Mar 06 2018 01:18 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Jerry is so wrong about Field of Dreams. It's my favorite movie ever. Don't ask him to rank the Star Wars movies. If this is an indication, he'll have Jar Jar and Phantom Menace at the top.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 06 2018 02:26 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

I've seen many movies, but relatively few baseball movies. I wonder why that is? I've never even seen Major League. Of Blevin's list, I've only seen A League of Their Own, Bull Durham, and Bad News Bears. From Vic's list, I can add Field of Dreams, The Natural, Eight Men Out, and Pride of the Yankees. Others that I've seen, that I can think of right now, are The Winning Team, Angels in the Outfield (1951), Fear Strikes Out, 42, and The Jackie Robinson Story. Bull Durham is easily my favorite. Most of the others either didn't make much of an impression on me, or were just okay. But I'll give props to The Natural, Eight Men Out, and Pride of the Yankees. Field of Dreams was a disappointment, because it wasn't nearly as good as the book that inspired it.

bmfc1 Mar 06 2018 03:19 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

41Forever wrote: Jerry is so wrong about Field of Dreams. It's my favorite movie ever. I agree. I love when "critics" mock the movie for not being realistic because Shoeless Joe Jackson bats righty instead of lefty. There are dead men who emerge from a cornfield to play baseball and that's what you're focused on for realism?

HahnSolo Mar 06 2018 04:15 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

He also wore shoes in the movie.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 06 2018 04:21 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

And his name was "Doug". They kept referring to him as "Shoeless Doug Jackson."

MFS62 Mar 06 2018 04:27 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Field of Dreams was a disappointment, because it wasn't nearly as good as the book that inspired it. And I was afraid I'd be the only one here who didn't like it. I never read the book, but didn't like the movie because I thought it was "hokey" and manipulative - pushing too hard for the tear-jerker effect. I liked Bull Durham, Major League, Bad News Bears (the original), The Jackie Robinson Story(because Jackie starred in it, and I thought that was cool) and, yes, Pride of the Yankees. I would watch any of them again. The Natural was ok, but don't see myself watching it again. The others? meh. To me, the best sports movie ever was Hoosiers, but I think we've had that discussion before. Later

dgwphotography Mar 06 2018 04:54 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

"It’s not the best baseball movie. It’s not even Kevin Costner’s best baseball movie. Bull Durham and For Love of The Game are significantly better baseball movies. Heck, it’s not even James Earl Jones’s best baseball movie! The Sandlot and The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings are infinitely better than Field of Dreams." Yeah, I have to agree with him here. As for the rest of his list, Vic said it much better than I ever could. My top 10: Bull Durham The Natural Eight Men Out A League of Their Own The Bad News Bears The Sandlot Major League Trouble With The Curve The Rookie The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars I just saw Trouble with the Curve a few weeks ago, and liked it much more than I thought I would.

Centerfield Mar 06 2018 05:43 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Bull Durham is easily my favorite. Mine too. I love every minute of that movie. In first place by a comfortable margin. My list: 1. Bull Durham 2. Major League 3. A League of Their Own 4. Field of Dreams 5. The Natural 6. Bad News Bears All the other movies either I haven't seen them or they didn't leave much of an impression on me. I know I've seen Moneyball, the movie where the kid can suddenly pitch, the movie where the kid inherits the team, and the one where Dennis Quaid plays the old guy. I also saw the douchefest Billy Crystal movie about Roger Maris.

Edgy MD Mar 06 2018 05:50 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

61* I mostly liked it.

Centerfield Mar 06 2018 05:56 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Point of discussion: Game 6 and Frequency are both fine films. Are they baseball films? I haven't seen Game 6. I liked Frequency a lot. But I don't think it's a baseball film. You know what else wasn't a baseball film? Stealing Home with Mark Harmon and Jodie Foster. Hey, what are we doing tonight? College GF: Let's stay in. I rented a video. But you always pick crappy movies Don't worry. This one's about baseball. A minor leaguer. Like that movie you like. Bull Durham? Yeah, it's supposed to be like that. You'll like it.

Edgy MD Mar 06 2018 06:04 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Game 6 is amazing in that it was an indy film starring then on-the-outs Michael Keaton. It got overlooked as most such films do. Nine years later, Komeback Keaton stars in the Oscar-darling Birdman, which seemingly lifted a lot of its elements right out of Game 6. Maybe it was mostly coincidental. I like Game 6 more, though.

41Forever Mar 06 2018 06:12 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Edgy MD wrote: 61* I mostly liked it. I thought it was good. And it was filmed partially in Michigan. We have a farewell party recently for our film and digital media staffer and a 61* poster was one of the decorations. I liked Fever Pitch, too. Didn't care much for Love of the Game, but it had its moments.

A Boy Named Seo Mar 06 2018 06:14 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

I feel like Barry Pepper in 61* was the first time I ever saw Brandon Nimmo.

Vic Sage Mar 06 2018 07:25 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

[u:1geyubyr]Rotten Tomatoes top 10:[/u:1geyubyr] Bull Durham Moneyball Bad News Bears Pride of the Yankees Sugar Field of Dreams Bang the Drum Slowly 8 Men Out The Rookie 42 [u:1geyubyr]just missing the cut:[/u:1geyubyr] Major League Fear Strikes Out The Natural League of their Own Fever Pitch Cobb Off the Black Game 6 [u:1geyubyr]In the top 25, but not "fresh":[/u:1geyubyr] Sandlot Perfect Game Mr. 3000 Trouble with the Curve

Benjamin Grimm Mar 06 2018 07:38 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Oh, I forgot about Cobb. That was a dreadful movie.

Vic Sage Mar 06 2018 07:41 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Mar 06 2018 08:47 PM

[u:37i2z06p]IMDB top 10:[/u:37i2z06p] Moneyball 42 Field of Dreams Natural Bad News Bears 8 Men Out League of their Own Major League Sugar Bull Durham [u:37i2z06p]honorable mentions:[/u:37i2z06p] Sandlot Pride of the Yankees Everybody Wants Some The Rookie

Vic Sage Mar 06 2018 07:46 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

has anyone seen SUGAR?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 06 2018 08:02 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

documentary about DR baseball? Or was that Sugar Kings? We watched Mr. Baseball not long ago. As bad as most baseball movies are, but not a whole lot worse. Could have been much better. The director was an Australian who knew nothing about baseball.

Edgy MD Mar 06 2018 08:05 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Mr. Baseball is part of a larger question: How did Tom Selleck end up in so many turkeys?

sharpie Mar 06 2018 08:37 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

I've seen Sugar and it easily makes the top ten: BULL DURHAM SBANG THE DRUM SLOWLY SUGAR MONEYBALL EVERYBODY WANTS SOME THE NATURAL BINGO LONG EIGHT MEN OUT A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN THE ROOKIE

A Boy Named Seo Mar 06 2018 09:02 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Mr. Baseball's always been my fav crappy baseball movie. Selleck as that mustachioed, over-the-hill primadonna ballplayer is just one of the terrible stereotypes in that movie I dig. I looked up Everybody Wants Some and remembered it's something like Linklater's Dazed and Confused, but in the 80s. I didn't know it was a baseball movie at all (maybe it's not, who knows). Anyway, it's on Amazon Prime if anyone else has that.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 06 2018 09:05 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Everybody Wants Some was a failure as a comedy, a baseball movie and an 80s movie. It wears the Triple Crown of Suck.

Edgy MD Mar 06 2018 10:24 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Mr. Baseball's always been my fav crappy baseball movie. Selleck as that mustachioed, over-the-hill primadonna ballplayer is just one of the terrible stereotypes in that movie I dig. It stands with The Bad News Bears Go to Japan as films that have an opportunity to make thoughtful observations about baseball, Japan, and baseball in Japan, but instead thought, "What a great opportunity to try and fail to get lots o' laffs out of lame-ass stereotypes!" I'm not a list guy, but I guess my favorite crappy baseball movie is The Winning Team. I basically think 90% of all baseball movies stink. They're either by folks who don't know about baseball, but know there's a market for people who do, or by people who think they know more than anybody about baseball, but actually have a pretty narrow view. I passed on to a friend the Roger Ebert philosophy that "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad." My friend said it was also true about John Goodman. "King Ralph wasn't altogether bad?" I wrote. "The Babe wasn't altogether bad?" "The Babe was irredeemably awful and fuck you," he wrote back.

bmfc1 Mar 07 2018 01:30 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

A Boy Named Seo wrote: I looked up Everybody Wants Some and remembered it's something like Linklater's Dazed and Confused, but in the 80s. I didn't know it was a baseball movie at all (maybe it's not, who knows). Anyway, it's on Amazon Prime if anyone else has that. It's definitely not a baseball movie. There are only two scenes that show them playing baseball. Lots of talk but they could have been talking about anything.

Frayed Knot Mar 07 2018 07:43 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

I looked up Everybody Wants Some and remembered it's something like Linklater's Dazed and Confused, but in the 80s. I didn't know it was a baseball movie at all (maybe it's not, who knows). Anyway, it's on Amazon Prime if anyone else has that. viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25330&p=684683&hilit=linklater#p684683

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 08 2018 06:17 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

has anyone seen SUGAR? Also seem it, and yeah, it's pretty damn great. Dominican kid with an arm toils at a DR baseball academy, hoping for his big break... which, when it comes, doesn't go easily. Understated realism... reminded me a lot of Maria Full of Grace (similar story, only a little more harrowing... owing to the main character being a Colombian drug mule, not a pitcher). From the people who did Half-Nelson, IIRC, with a young Ryan Gosling. documentary about DR baseball? Or was that Sugar Kings? The one with Miguel Sano? That's Baseball: Peloteros and it's ALSO phenomenal. Maybe it's being raised mostly dadless, but I agree with whoever called FoD manipulative. Minus that pull, it's full of a lot of shrill, charmless stuff. My top 10: 1) Bull Durham 2) Bad News Bears 3) Moneyball 4) Sugar 5) Eight Men Out 5) The Sandlot 6) 42 7) Bang the Drum Slowly 8) Major League 9) A League of Their Own 10-a) Bingo Long 10-b) The Natural (if you don't consider what a massive inversion/desecration of the book THIS was)

MFS62 Mar 08 2018 03:01 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Edgy MD wrote: I passed on to a friend the Roger Ebert philosophy that "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad." Interesting. Harry Dean Stanton was in Steven Seagal's Fire Down Below and Emmet Walsh was in Chuck Norris' Missing in Action. Although the bar is low, those were probably two of their better movies. I think Norris had a baseball theme in some of his Walker, Texas Ranger episodes, but I don't think Seagal ever did anything with a baseball theme. Later

Edgy MD Mar 08 2018 03:09 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Yeah, I think the key to the notion is the word "altogether." They've certainly been in some bad films—perhaps a lot of them—but not necessarily altogether bad ones. It's not just that their performances alone modestly redeem lousy films, but their presence indicates somebody on the production gave a crap, and perhaps that small amount of crap-giving bled over into other areas, if only a little. I think Bill Nighy is probably a latter day example. Maybe J.K. Simmons. If a movie starred Nicholas Cage, but had Harry Dean Stanton in a supporting role, that might one of those irresistible-force-meets-immovable-object conundrums.

MFS62 Mar 08 2018 03:21 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Edgy MD wrote: Y If a movie starred Nicholas Cage, but had Harry Dean Stanton in a supporting role, that might one of those irresistible-force-meets-immovable-object conundrums. Edgy, that is one of your best lines - EVER. I'm still laughing. Later

Frayed Knot Mar 08 2018 08:39 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

SUGAR was one of those dramas that played out almost as if a documentary. Well done. The one baseball movie which gets low marks from me in opposition to general crowd wisdom in LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN. I never did get through it; mainly I was too turned off by Jon Lovitz playing Jon Lovitz and mostly by Madonna playing Madonna (or at least playing herself in her 'Look at me, I'm a slut' phase). It was as if the movie was written by the actors' agents trying to promote a brand. And, yeah, I know that the flick is about more than that but those were enough to make me skip the rest, and if that means I missed a halfway decent movie then that's something I'll live with.

Nymr83 Mar 08 2018 10:03 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Wait, SUGAR wasn't real?

Frayed Knot Mar 09 2018 02:25 AM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

The one I'm thinking of wasn't: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0990413/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 It might have been based on someone real, although I got the idea that 'Sugar' was more some composite character not meant to represent anyone specific.

A Boy Named Seo Mar 28 2018 03:46 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Paste Magazine comes through with their top 18(?) baseball movies. https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/ ... ign=180327 They cheat a little with the Ken Burns documentary, but looks like most of us are missing out on The Battered Bastards of Baseball and No-No: A Dockumentary Trailers: [youtube]RA76b5Hhvxg[/youtube] [youtube]iATpe6GLT5g[/youtube]

Vic Sage Mar 28 2018 04:24 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

documentaries don't count. If you take out the 2 they put in the top 10, then LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN and 8 MEN OUT sneak into the top 10. Interesting that MONEYBALL is not in the top 10, and SUGAR is. I've to check that movie out.

Edgy MD Mar 28 2018 05:45 PM Re: At the Movies with Jerry Blevins

Battered Bastards of Baseball Crane Pool action here.